By a Correspondent
The company behind Highlanders FC’s commemorative Gin100 product has been fined US$800 after pleading guilty to illegally manufacturing and selling alcoholic beverages without the required licences.
Comrades Beverages (Private) Limited, represented by its managing director, Langa Bright Moyo, appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Themba Chimiso and pleaded guilty to charges involving the unlawful production and sale of liquor, as well as regulatory breaches.
The company was fined US$300 for selling liquor without a licence, in contravention of Section 113(1)(a) of the Liquor Act.
It was further fined US$500 after the court consolidated charges relating to operating an unauthorised liquor manufacturing facility and failing to comply with environmental regulations governing the storage of hazardous substances.
In passing sentence, Magistrate Chimiso warned the company against continuing to operate outside the law, saying illegal alcohol production could put consumers’ lives at risk.
“You are producing illicit alcohol, which may put the lives of consumers at risk,” he said.
The magistrate urged the company to regularise its operations and obtain all the necessary licences and regulatory approvals if it intended to continue manufacturing and selling alcoholic beverages.
According to prosecutor Samuel Mpofu, detectives from the Drugs and Narcotics Unit conducted a compliance inspection at the company’s premises in Bulawayo’s city centre on June 10, following reports that alcohol was being manufactured at the site.
Investigations allegedly revealed that the premises were not registered or certified to operate as a liquor manufacturing facility.
Authorities also established that the company had been distributing and selling alcoholic products in and around Bulawayo without a valid liquor licence.
During the operation, police seized 96 bottles of Highlanders African Gin, 85 unbranded bottles of liquor and 156 bottles of Kalahari African Gin.
Investigators also confiscated manufacturing equipment and 600 litres of ethanol, which was allegedly being stored without the required Environmental Management Agency (EMA) permit and storage certificate.
The court ordered that all the seized liquor products, ethanol and manufacturing equipment be forfeited to the State.
The conviction comes only weeks after Comrades Beverages entered into a partnership with Highlanders FC to produce Highlanders Gin100, a commemorative gin launched as part of the club’s centenary celebrations.
The case is likely to raise questions over the future of the product and the company’s ability to meet the regulatory requirements governing the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.
